


Lunation

by Tolra



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Basically something I day dreamed, Dissociation, Hospitals, It was easiest to research, It's Twilight, Jasperwear, Medical Jargon, Music, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Piano, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, Teacup Obsession, There is obviously going to be monsters, Unusual Vampire, Vampires, Werewolves, Westwood, violin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:13:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26503453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tolra/pseuds/Tolra
Summary: Violet has started working at the Fork's Community Hospital. She left England behind her and is in search of a new beginning. She never expected to find an end.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Heart, Alive

**Author's Note:**

> So this is probably trash.  
> There, I've warned you. Continue at your own risk!  
> If you're still reading, bare with me. I'm dyslexic, proof read myself, never write in first person, and I've not written anything for years. This is really an exercise for me, with some loose plot thrown in.  
> The timeline for this also is being bent to my will. Like, it'll probably be implied that Bella's been a vampire for a while. But no Renesmee - though I'm not decided on that.  
> Hopefully you're reliving your Twilight years like I am, and this is some content you'll find enjoyable x

“Hey, Dr Cullen!” I called as I strode through the, minorly busy, majors area department of the emergency room. “I’ve got an interesting ECG from the waiting room for you. Look at that stonker of an NSTEMI.” I announced, turning the pink paper around and held it in front of my chest as I reached him – a small bounce in my step as I came to a stop. It was easy for me to get excited about the cardiovascular system. It continued to blow my mind that it was the system which allowed for human existence, that the simple function of blood perfusing allowed me to flush, to feel warm, to think and move. Without the heart, we’d all be cold and still. Working in a hospital really did put into perspective how fragile life was, and that the cardiovascular system was rather delicate. Prior to moving to Forks and working in their little community hospital emergency department, I had worked for six months in an eight bedded coronary care unit – so anything remotely heart related was not just fascinating but also my most knowledgeable area. If I were to go on a game show, cardiac would be my chosen subject.

In comparison to most places, people could claim that Forks was a slower way of life. After all, it was a little town with a population just short of four thousand. Where I had lived in England had almost seventy time that amount. But really, if you asked people in the UK, they’d also claim that Devon was slow and boring. I didn’t mind the pace of life in Forks, I enjoyed recognising the faces of people down the street. I’d only lived in Forks for slightly over a month, and the parallels between here and England were nice. Both had luscious environments with plenty of greenery, Devon especially had similarly large trees and open spaces – and my old town was equally cold, misty and often rainy. However, the biggest difference, and what pulled me across the pond, was that Fork was fresh. It was clean and innocent – the town was unmarked. England held too many horrors for me now, it was stained with memories I had been desperate to leave behind.

I supposed it couldn’t be unusual for nurses to work in different countries, but the exams required to practise in the States were difficult. I was shocked when I managed to pass them after only four months of study. At twenty-one, I was close to eight months fresh out of university. Being so newly qualified, I knew people would assume me to be a little clueless and naïve – I was certain that Forks Community Hospital presumed that I’d be another fresh graduate who’d be intimidated by the more senior staff. After all, it wasn’t just older nurses that ate their young. I must have been a shock to them, I was young, new to the nursing grind, in a new town, working in a new hospital where everything was different – and I was still confident in calling my shots. I knew my abilities, and I knew when to seek help. Like in this moment, where I cheekily slipped my ECG over the top of whatever Dr Cullen was looking at.

“You see the depressed ST waves? And there is no progression to the Q wave.” I pointed out, standing close to the doctor as I talked through my findings. Dr Cullen was young, and I felt like I could relate to him – he also couldn’t have been long out of medical school. Dr Cullen was everyone’s favourite, but he really was the best doctor I’d ever worked with. He was polite and respectful – something I valued in my medical team. Dr Cullen carried himself with an air of confidence and his knowledge was varied. I enjoyed shifts when he was working. I wanted to be like him, he drove me to be a better nurse. “I’m certain a PCI is going to show a partial occlusion of his coronary arteries.” I explained, taking a small step back to give Dr Cullen some space. I knew I had a habit of getting excited and carried away when I was certain I was right about something. I often would gravitate towards the person – and I had noticed that Dr Cullen preferred to keep his distance.

I didn’t give Dr Cullen a chance to ask me any questions, before he even opened his mouth, I already knew what he was going to ask. “He’s got relatively no cardiac history, only being positive in the fact his father had a heart attack. He’s positive to chest pain, descried as someone sitting on his chest, and pain in his jaw. He’s also rather sweaty.” I rushed out, barely breathing in between words. Sure, you could put my hastiness down to the unwell patient – but also it had become a game to see how quickly I could report to Dr Cullen before he got a word in. It always made me giggle when he raised an eyebrow at me. “He’s 54, high BMI, smokes and drinks. He’s currently sat in the resus bay, connected to a heart monitor, and has had some paracetamol and GTN spray to try to relieve the pain. I just need you to do the consultant to consultant hand over with the hospital in Port Angeles,” I paused very briefly as I leant over the desk and fished the phone off of the cradle so I could hold it out to Dr Cullen, “and write me up a prescription for ticagrelor, aspirin and prasugrel – if you want him to have it now.” I finished with a grin, pulling the prescription chart out from under my arm and passing it over to Dr Cullen. “And… you can remind me that I’m your favourite nurse.” I teased, grinning with a shine to my eyes.

Dr Cullen shook his head, grinning as he did so, and looked at the ECG for a moment – no doubt analysing the complexes and reviewing the rate. I was very aware that he could have come to this conclusion himself, he didn’t need me suggesting a treatment pathway, and that he had more than likely just let me show off. I had noticed that people tended to let me ramble on, normally staring at me as though I was speaking another language entirely. It was the accent – strong and properly pronounced English. In a small town like Forks, I had to take people by surprise. This was proven by how it only caused me trouble when people didn’t expect it. A couple of times I had needed to repeat my order when I was down at the diner for dinner, but that was quickly cleared up. More embarrassingly, I had needed to repeat myself at least six times while asking a Police Officer for directions when I first moved to town.

“Well, Violet,” Dr Cullen’s voice snapped me out of the cringey memory, “I can’t announce that you’re my favourite nurse. That wouldn’t be very fair.” He said smiling soft, speaking kindly and with diplomacy. I couldn’t be certain that I wasn’t just kidding myself, but I had a feeling that meant I probably was his favourite, and it made my cheeks flush with pride.

“Aww, Dr Cullen. Come on, we both know it.” I encouraged, winking at him with a little laugh.

“I do enjoy the thoroughness and confidence at which you work.” He praised, though didn’t say anything else on the subject. It didn’t matter to me, the little he said was already more than enough. I was beaming brightly. Praise from Dr Cullen would make any member of staff happy – but perhaps it was the absent father figure I had always been desperate to fill that made his appreciation all that more special to me. “I agree with you that Port Angeles will provide far superior care to us. I’ll ensure to call their consultant, please ask Marie to arrange transport. As for the medication, let us hold off until the ambulance arrives. I’ll write it up ready, but ask Nurse Symmons to hold off giving it for now.” Dr Cullen direct effortlessly, while slipping the phone from my hand, which had me bobbing my head in agreement with more enthusiasm than the solar powered bobblehead in my car.

“Brilliant. I’ll make sure to get that done.” I confirmed, always liking my staff to be aware as to whether I understood them or not. Good patient care started with good staff communication – and the importance of patient care was the reason I had chosen this career. I watched Dr Cullen elegantly write out the prescription, with his beautifully cursive handwriting, before taking it from him. “This is the reason you’re my favourite doctor.” I told him, pointing to his writing. “If you can find yourself a doctor who’s a legible writer, you never let them go.” I teased him, holding the chart up and dramatically admiring it before chuckling. “Cheers, Dr Cullen. I’ll go get stuff sorted.” I said as I turned to leave.

“Violet?” Dr Cullen’s voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned back to face him, looking to see if I had forgotten something. Dr Cullen was back to focusing on the file he had been before I disturbed him. He was so still, he looked statuesque. Beautiful, like carved from marble. “You can call me Carlisle here too.” He reminded me, for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last two weeks.

“I’ve started calling you Carlisle when I come over, calling you Dr Cullen at work helps me stay focused. Got to keep my head in the game, you know?” I told him, grinning. While Dr Cullen was nodding at me in understanding, I knew that three days from now, on our next shift, I’d be reminding him the exact same thing. Dr Cullen while we were at work, and Carlisle when I saw him in my spare time.

“Is it particularly busy in the waiting room? Anything interesting?” Dr Cullen asked, making me raise my eyebrow. Surely, he was aware that something interesting to a nurse, was no good for anyone else. Interesting for a nurse meant more work for a doctor, and for patients to become considerably sicker.

“Don’t go tempting fate now, Dr Cullen. It’s almost like you’re tempting the Q word.” I grinned, enjoying a moment to pause and just talk. “You’ll have several nurses after you then, and they won’t go lightly on you just because everyone thinks you’re cute.” Nurses, by nature, were kind…. But if you said the place was quiet… well, I was certain they made the scariest of monsters seem tame. “But no, nothing exciting. A sporting injury from the high school, not any of your kids – don’t worry. Just some hockey related sprain, I think. Erm… A guy who’s come off his bicycle and into a low pine tree,” I had trouble getting through that one without laughing, the poor man was a miserable sight. “, and a kid with a cough and sore throat. I’m not overly worried, flu is making its way around.”.

Dr Cullen nodded at this, almost looking like he was pondering over his thoughts. “So… Triage is a little -“

“- Don’t you even dare.” I interrupted him. Sure, triaging patients was a little dull when it was slow. But I didn’t need Dr Cullen tempting fate and having half of forks turn up all at once. I didn’t need our emergency room turning into a scene from Grey's Anatomy. Dr Cullen laughed at my abrupt cut off, his honey eyes glistening under the florescent lights. He held both his palms up in a surrender.

“Very well.” He said, closing the file in his hands and surveying the rooms. “Will we be seeing you for another piano tonight? It is Friday.” Dr Cullen reminded me, his tone made him sounds like he was worried I’d forgotten or would want to cancel.

“Only if Edward isn’t going to be too busy, I don’t want to ruin any weekend plans.” I admitted, feeling a little bit embarrassed that piano lessons from a teenager were going to be the highlight of my weekend. I fiddled nervously with the stethoscope around my neck, suddenly feeling very lonely. When moving to a town where everyone had known everyone since birth, it was difficult to make friends. The only friends I had managed to make were Dr Cullen and his family. They were lovely and charming, and certainly filled the family shaped hole in my life… But often I felt like a bit of an inconvenience. Sometimes, I wondered if they put up with me because I worked with Dr Cullen. They were different to anyone I’d ever met before. They made me nervous and ecstatic all at the same time.

Carlisle’s facial expressions soften, his features becoming even more sympathetic and caring – if that was even possible. He gracefully outstretched his arm and placed his hand over my upper arm, he was a typical doctor and seemed to always have the coldest hands. “Violet, we all enjoy seeing you.” He reassured me, as though he knew the track of my train of thought. “Edward has spent all week trying to find the perfect piece of music for you to learn next.” He explained, catching my eyes and giving me a reassuring smile.

“Amazing!” I exclaimed, bouncing on my heels slightly. “Well, if it’s not too late… Can you let him know I’ll be around sort of eight o’clock?” I preferred to eat at home, and shower after a shift, before I spent time with the Cullens. Normally I arranged my lessons on my days off, but the Cullen family had been out of town for a large proportion of the week… and I had been lonely. So really, the piano lessons were a disguise for some company.

“Eight o’clock sounds perfect, Violet. I’m sure Esme will be thrilled to see you again.” Mrs Cullen had to be one of the most wonder people I had ever had the pleasure of meeting. She reminded me of spring. She was surrounded by life, a large family. If she was a Greek goddess, she’d be Persephone. “But I better not keep you any longer. It appears the waiting room needs your attention.” Dr Cullen hinted, pointing through the class window to the four new patients who’d arrived.

I sighed and raised an eyebrow at Dr Cullen, ready to scold him had jinxed my peaceful afternoon by tempting fate. “I’ve got it. I’ll let you know if anything is interesting.” I told him, waving slightly as I strolled back to my post – stopping through resus to share the plan – and hoping that the rest of my day would go smoothly and quickly.


	2. Ears, Listen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still here? I'm impressed that you're intrigued enough to keep reading.   
> Thank you for giving this rubbish a chance, and I'm sorry if this chapter solidifies any disappointment you held.   
> Not an exciting chapter ahead, just a bit of a bridge. But it was enjoyable to write.   
> I believe that if I enjoy the writing process, then maybe it'll reflect in the reading experience, but that could also be a load of crap.   
> I hope at least someone likes it! Enjoy x

The rest of my shift was not peaceful.

Amongst a rush of other things, I had treated a screaming toddler who had fallen from a highchair – whom had giving me a headache while very loudly letting the entire hospital know I was torturing them with five stitches. There was also a woman who had sprained her ankle from walking a nature trail in heels – even I had lived here long enough to roll my eyes and identify her as a tourist. I was helpful though, I pointed her in the direction of a little outdoors supply store for next time. However, the cherry on top of it all… Was the young man who had splattered vomit down my scrubs. Every nurse had a thing, something that would make them heave in response. I’d happily take vomit any day over phlegm.

In summary, my day really had just been another eventful episode in the reality of working in the ER. 

By the time I’d showered, shoved dinner in my mouth (a bowl of Cheerios, as I was too lazy to make real food), and jumped in my very beaten up car, it was quarter past eight. I wanted to look somewhat presentable for the Cullens, but the mixture of post-work exhaustion and limited wardrobe selection meant that I was going to look homeless in comparison to their fashionable family. I’d hastily thrown on a pair of oversized joggers and a baggy cropped blue jumper. I hadn’t bought many clothes from England with me… Maybe I’d be able to convince Alice to come shopping with me – I knew she was looking to improve my style.

Pulling my dilapidated 1983 Monte Carlo into the Cullen’s driveway made me cringe. It was so juxtaposed in front of the polished exterior of their house. My car even groaned as it stopped, as though it was complaining to me about its aches and pains like an old man. “Good job, Rust Bucket.” I told the car, killing the ignition and patting the steering wheel in praise. I’d not had a lot of money to my name when I made the big move, but this car was the first purchase I really made. Sure, it wasn’t speeding anywhere… and sometimes the wingmirror would fall off if I went over a bump (and then I’d embarrassingly have to stop to get out and collect it). But the little machine got me from my shared house, which was another nightmare entirely, to work and back. That’s all she really needed to do.

I paused in my car for a moment, leaning back against my seat, closing my eyes and just breathing. It was always so peaceful up by the Cullen’s house. You could hear wind pull through the trees, the trickle of the stream which ran close to the house, cricket chirping in the nearby long grass – and occasionally the odd howl of wolves. I tried to stretch my hearing as far as it would go, but I was interrupted by a rhythmic tapping noise. Peaking one eye open, I spied my solar powered bobblehead dancing away. “What do you think you’re doing? Hm? There is no sun, it’s dark out now!” I pointed out to the teddy bear shaped figure. “When it’s sunny you don’t move, and now it’s night you’re shaking it like you’ve got something to sell.” I scolded him, smiling to myself. Thank god no one could hear me. They’d think I was crazy.

“Alright, Violet.” I began to pep talk myself, gathering up the piano books that Edward had leant me. “You bought that old keyboard off eBay. You’ve been practising. Nothing to be worried about. Don’t be nervous.” I told myself, knowing that if anything I’d only made myself more nervous. The issue was, I was awful. Edward was so good at the piano, and while he was only a few years younger than me, I was still massively intimidated at his skill level.

With my mind otherwise preoccupied, I wasn’t paying much attention as I exited my car. My foot got caught on the lip of the door seal, causing me to ungracefully trip over. “Oft!” I breathed out, looking over my shoulder to glare at my foot. “Traitor.” I grumbled, picking up the books I dropped and standing up to dust myself off. Shyly, I looked towards the house, hoping this would be a secret. Unfortunately, it appeared my clumsiness hadn’t gone unwitnessed.

“Do you think you’ll ever stop tripping over your own feet?!” Emmett laughed, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, you laugh it up, Chuckles. One day I’m going to kick your ass.” I threated for not the first time since I started hanging out with the Cullens. Emmett’s booming laugh was infectious and had me chuckling with him. “You know, it’s very rude to laugh at the disabled.” As a teenager, I had sustained a head injury which often caused my balance to look like I was eight tequilas drunk. I lived with it, it made people laugh and it sure beat the two years I spent in a wheelchair.

“How did you even know I was here?” I asked, hopping up the steps to Emmett and bumping his fist as he held it out to me. While obviously it would be rude to have a favourite Cullen (and clearly it should be Carlisle since he was sort of my boss), Emmett was a laugh. He was always cracking me up, and was literally the dictionary definition of a dude-bro.

Emmett raised his hand and pointed towards my car. “The neighbouring States could hear you pulling up, Redcoat.” He teased, nudging me and closing the door behind us once we were inside.

“Oi, Yank. You leave Rust Bucket out of this. He’s faithful.” I laughed, toeing off my shoes in their hallway – raising my foot up and pointing to my socks which were covered in little cartoon grizzly bears. I had worn them especially, since Emmett had mentioned he liked bears a lot. To me, it seemed to be an American thing that everyone wandered around the house with their outside shoes on. I was too worried that my beaten-up, and rather filthy, vans were going to ruin the Cullens’ perfectly shiny floor. Their whole house was perfect, like an upscale IKEA catalogue but in real life. Everything was perfectly placed, perfectly clean and very sparkly. It was unnatural for a lived-in home, their house really resembled more of a show room.

“Sure. Faithful. Until you go over pothole and it falls apart around you. You won’t just have your wingmirror to worry about then.” He told me, smirking and clearly thinking he was being clever, as we walked upstairs. “You need to upgrade. You could be cool if you get a Jeep like mine.”

I rolled my eyes at Emmett, he wasn’t the only Cullen to try to encourage me to upgrade. “Oh yeah! Sure! Remind me when I win the lottery, yeah?” I asked him, shaking my head. Nursing definitely pays better in the States, but it still wasn’t ‘let’s just go out and buy a brand-new Jeep’ money. “Until then, Rust Bucket will just have to pootle along.” Maybe I should search for someone who could actually repair my car, I was certain that with a bit of work it could be restored to its original form. Right now, it was just a tad shitty.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I could already hear Edward at the piano. He played so beautifully; I could always tell when it was him at the piano. Distracted by the music in the air, I didn’t pay attention as we rounded the corner – nearly smacking straight into Alice. I halted abruptly, feeling my balance begin to topple me backwards. I would have landed on my arse, if it wasn’t for Emmett’s lightning speed reaction – his cold hand on the centre of my back steadying me. “Woah.” I breathed out, readjusting my feet and giving a sheepish grin to both people. “Cheers, Emmett. You’ve saved me some serious coccydynia.”.

“Alice! You frightened me!” I exclaimed, still smiling at her. I wasn’t used to other people silently moving around and popping up out of nowhere. In the past, people had often described me as being a bit of a ghost on the wall, always disappearing in a crowd. I had been the one to surprise people when entering the room. It was odd to have the roles reversed; it was like there was something about me that drew the Cullens in.

“Sorry, Violet!” Alice apologised, her sing-song voice carrying almost in perfect pitch with the background piano music. “We weren’t certain you were still coming.” She told me with a little frown, before going back to beaming at me. It was nice to see that Alice was clearly happy to have me in her company. She looked as though she wanted to embrace me, she was leaning forwards on her toes slightly. However, while she was smiling there seemed to be a tightness to it. I noticed that she was also taking a couple of deeper breaths. I wondered if I had also frightened her.

I rubbed the back of my neck, a little embarrassed and feeling a tad awkward. “Yeah, sorry about that. Took a while for me to sort my life out.” I apologised. In reality, I had had to wait ages for one of the other house occupants to get out the shower – causing me to be tempted to just call the piano lessons off and go to bed. “If it’s a bit late, I can leave – it’s not a big deal.” I reassured her in a panic, I didn’t want to be an inconvenience.

Alice shook her head at me, her gorgeously styled hair bouncing. I really did feel like a slug in comparison – I knew I’d feel worse if I saw Rosalie. That girl could wear a bin bag and easily convince me it was the latest French fashion. “Don’t be ridiculous. We like having you around-“ Alice started.

“-yeah, who else is going to fall down and give me something to laugh at?” Emmett laughed causing both myself and Alice to scowl at him.

“One day, Emmett. You’ll be the one falling over and I’m going to laugh at you.” I threatened, sticking my tongue out at him childishly. It was really a bit of an empty threat. I’d be upset if one of the got hurt. In the short time I’d been here, I felt extremely lucky that they had welcomed me into their family.

It didn’t take long to find Edward at the piano, with Bella cuddled up to his side. For the sort journey over to them, I made small talk about school and their plans for the weekend. My brain struggled to comprehend that these individuals were high school students. Sure, at first glance they looked young, but they didn’t move like young people – it was too controlled. And they might sound like teenagers, but they didn’t talk like other teenagers who I spoke to in the ER. Their attitudes seemed decades old. They were all smart and polite – not your average hormonal teenagers. Standing next to them, they made me feel a bit like a child.

“Good to see you made it, Violet.” Edward greeted me politely, smiling up at Bella as she slipped free from the piano. His attention focused back on me, though I didn’t mind that it had drifted. Their young love was adorable and made a nice fuzzy feeling blossom in my chest. “Alice wasn’t certain you were going to come.” He said, shifting over on the piano stool so I had a bit more room to sit next to him. It was weird to me how he also mentioned that Alice didn’t think I was going to come. I couldn’t quite tell why… but it was like she knew things no one else did.

“Blame your Dad for basically calling the ER quiet.” I said with fake anger, smiling and pulling out the first piano book I had been leant. The four individuals in the room laughed. It seemed like they were planning on hanging around while I played. My nerves increased and made me feel as though the Cheerios were going to make a second appearance.

“Emmett. Rosalie is looking for you.” Jasper’s head popped up from around the living room doorway, his timing couldn’t be more on point for thinning out the room. I felt a little calmer as Emmett seemed to be awoken from some trance and nodded at me, heading back down the stairs. I never really hung around Jasper, he seemed to keep his distance from me. Even when it was clear he wanted to be around Alice, if I was in the room he’d hover as far away as possible. At first, I thought maybe I’d done something to offend him, or that he’d naturally just taken a disliking to me. When I had mentioned it to Carlisle at work, he reassured me that Jasper was just adjusting to the family, so I had decided to settle on him just being a bit shy when I was around.

“Alice, Bella. Perhaps we should leave them too it.” Jasper suggested, smiling at me kindly.

‘Thank you’ I mouthed at him, pleased that I would only be embarrassing Edward with my poor piano playing. A voice in my head whispered that the whole house would still be able to hear me, but I promptly told it to shut up and remind it that at least no one would be staring at me.

With the room a bit emptier, I turned the page to the basics I had been working on. “Right… You ready for me to torture the house with this?” I asked Edward playfully, taking a deep breath. 


	3. Brain, Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back for another instalment of the story I've dubbed 'Dumpster on Fire'.  
> I can only assume, that if you're reading the junk I day dream while I'm driving my car around in the rain (and shamelessly pretending I'm in Forks) you're also currently so obsessed with Twilight you're reading any and all content you can get.   
> I'm pleased that I can fill a need.   
> Fun fact: I rewrote this chapter three times. It is also twice as long as my last ones - guess I just couldn't find a good point to cut it.   
> I hope you enjoy this, and thank you for continuing to stick with my trash xoxo

At the piano, I worked through the exercises Edward had shown me last week; without too much trouble. I was able to dazzle him with my mastering of Frere Jacques and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I wasn’t exactly over enthused with my refined abilities. I had the five-year-old child skills nailed down and showing them off to the five-year-old piano maestro sitting next to me did nothing for my confidence. Move over Beethoven, while I was absolutely unthreatening in the claim for the title of expert piano player – Edward definitely was coming for it.

The ridiculous nursery rhymes, while not overly enjoyable, were at least in tune. My symphony of torture came shortly after. Apparently impressed with my improvement, which I had to admit did please me, Edward pulled out some different sheet music. I couldn’t help but let out a slightly defeatist huff as I ran my eyes over the notes. “Oh, come on. You’re doing fine.” Edward challenged, smoothing the paper up on the stand. “Satie’s Gymnopedia is easy. Completely simple left-hand cords. We’ll work on the right-hand melody first. It’s child’s play, you’ll pick it up easily.” He encouraged confidently. But you know what they say, famous last words.

An hour later, I was still tumbling over the keys and stabbing out untuneful sounds.

“Remind me. Are you learning music or dragging out a slow death of the piano?” Emmett’s voice boomed as he and Rosalie appeared at the top of the stairs. They both looked immaculate, and the only aspect giving them away for having been tinkering with cars in the garage was the slight smudge of grease under Emmett’s right eye. I rolled my eyes, jabbing a random key sharply while staring directly at Emmet - before quickly lifting my hand up and flipping Emmett off as they both walked pasted towards the living room.

Shaking my head, I let out a frustrated groan, pulling my other hand away from the piano. “Yep. That’s it, I’m done.” I told Edward, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. “I’m so awful that I’ve actually given myself a headache.” I complained, waiting for the pounding sensation to pass.

“You really weren’t that bad.” Edward reassured me kindly, clearly just trying to keep me motivated. It was kind of him to lie to me, part of me appreciated the sentiment behind it. The other part of me wanted to laugh at what a terrible lie it was.

“Nope, I’m worse than bad. I’m atrocious.” I groaned in a mix of frustration and pain, wincing at my head. “Government satellites were probably listening in, and now they’re going to headhunt me down to lead top secret interrogations with just the use of a piano.” I told him with an edge of frustration in my voice, I struggled with being bad at music.

A cool hand touched the back of my shoulder gently, making me jolt – I hadn’t event felt Edward stand from the piano stall. Not for the first time, I was wondering if I could convince them all wear bells. “Are you alright, Violet?” Edward asked, hoovering over me slightly. Peeking up at him, I could see concern etched onto his face. It was odd to me; I was still getting used to people caring about me here.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I’m fine. Just been getting headaches a lot recently.” I apologised and waved my hand dismissively, not wanting to worry anyone. I had thought the headaches were just stress related, I guess playing the piano in front of Edward was stressful. He was so good, and I would have liked to of been able to impress him by being good too. “I was probably just focusing too hard. You know, busy day at work too.” I murmured, standing up from the piano and plucking the sheet music from the stand – intending to practise it at home. I knew I had stood up too quickly, I felt the room swim for a moment, a seasick nausea overcame me. I held the piano discretely, just to steady myself while I waited for the feeling to pass. Edward was eyeing me suspiciously all the same, was there anything that got passed the Cullen’s without calling their attention?

“You’re pale.”

His comment made me laugh. “I’m pale? Okay, Snow White. Compared to you, I could actually have been an Australian.” I teased him, referencing how both he and Jasper had been positively convinced I wasn’t British when I first met. They had argued with me over my accent until I had produced my driver’s licence as proof.

“Well, will you at least have a cup of tea before you leave?” I had a feeling I wasn’t actually being asked, but rather instructed. To be honest, I really didn’t want a cup of tea. I was English, so it should be no surprise I fit into the stereotype of having Early Grey for a blood type. Tea was the best drink there was, but … getting a good cuppa in American has been impossible. Drinking mud was far preferable. However, I didn’t want to seem rude. So, I nodded in agreement, letting Edward lead me through to the living room.

The living room matched the rest of the house. Sleek, well-polished and modern. It was large in shape, which made sense since seven of them lived here. There was a dark stone fireplace built into the middle of the wall, with wood stocked neatly in an alcove under it. A flatscreen television was mounted on top, although it wasn’t on. There was a plush white loveseat next to the fireplace, a small round table to the side of it housed a couple of magazines and a vase filled with lilies. Two white sofas were placed in a L shape away from each other and decorated with several throw pillows, a blanket was tossed over the back of one of the sofas – it looked like it had been styles to look careless. A black rectangular coffee table was between them, with a couple of candles and another vase with flowers on top of it. If it hadn’t of been dark outside, big wide windows would have offered a breath-taking scene of the forest around the house. I choose to sit on the sofa furthest away from the modern angular lamp, curling up in the corner of it and tucking my feet under myself – balancing a pillow on my lap. The living room was occupied by the majority of the household, yet it was completely peaceful. On the floor across from me, Alice and Jasper were sat in front of the lit fireplace with a vintage looking chessboard in front of them – a few discarded pieces scattered around the ground. It had been years since I had played chess, but Alice appeared to be winning. I would have to ask her for a game at some point, at secondary school I had won a medal once for chess. Next to Jasper, Bella was lying on her front – Wuthering Heights in her hands. She seemed to be paying very little attention to it and, much like me, was more focused on the intense chess game. Every few seconds, Bella would reach across and move pieces for Jasper; causing the pair of them to smirk at Alice as a little frown formed between her brows. It was amusing to watch the team effort apparently required to defeat Alice. On the loveseat in the corner, Emmett was sat with Rosalie meld around him, her legs hooked over his lap and one arm over his shoulders. Her fingers were lovingly combing through Emmett’s hair at the back of his head, while the pair of them were reading a magazine with a red Lamborghini on the front of it – pointing at pictures and murmuring quietly to each other. It was endearing to see how wrapped up they were in their own little worlds, preoccupied with their activities together. I was jealous of how settled they were and the inner peace they seemed to have. The way Emmett was looking at Rosalie was endearing; it was as thought every time he looked at her, he was falling in love with her again for the first time. It was the sort of thing you were meant to rib your mates for, to make funny gagging noises at them, but for some reason their affections melted my heart. Jasper and Alice were much the same, with each piece eliminated from the board they would lean over and press a kiss to the other’s cheek. All the intimacy in the room made me a bit uncomfortable, I felt like I was intruding on something very private.

“Your lesson ended earlier than usual. Did you finally murderer our piano?” Emmett grinned, pulling me from my inner thoughts and making me roll my eyes again. Maybe my headache was simply just a side effect from all the eye rolling Emmett caused me.

“Oh yeah. I’m a heartless hunter. The carcass is left drained of all its creative juices.” I chuckled, rubbing my head a little bit. I felt a tad sorry for myself.

“Do not feel bad, Violet. Emmett is just jealous because he can’t tell a piano from a flute.” Jasper drawled, his voice a little rough – like he was trying not to breathe as he spoke. Emmett pulled a page out of his magazine and scrunched it up, launching it at Jasper’s turned head. I blinked and sudden Jasper’s hand was in the air, paper ball in his grasp briefly before it was tossed into the fire. “It also took Edward many years to play with the fineness he does.” Jasper added, his eyes never leaving Alice as he addressed me, twirling a rook between his fingers.

I wasn’t certain that Jasper made me feel much better. Edward was young and already so good. “Years? How long has he been playing? You guys are like… nine!” I exclaimed with a cheeky tone, knowing that I wasn’t much older than them. They took their turn to roll their golden eyes at me, exchanging glances and grins as though they were sharing a joke I wasn’t in on. I was too tired to challenge them on it.

“My baby is much better than Edward anyway.” Emmett grinned, curling his thumb over Rosalie’s cheek and turning her face so that he could steal a kiss from her. Rosalie seemed to glow from his praise, her attention completely on him. “You should be getting lessons from her.” Emmett suggested, gazing at Rosalie with a sickly-sweet grin.

“Oh yeah?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. It was stupid of me to assume a family that owned two pianos didn’t have more than one child who could play them. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that, Rosalie? Maybe you’d be able to help me make the piano sing, rather than scream?” Smiling at her, I desperately hoped she’d offer to tutor me. Edward’s lessons were enjoyable, of course. But Rosalie was still somewhat frosty with me, no matter how warm and friendly I attempted to be. I assumed her attitude was due to how well I got on with Emmett.

My efforts clearly hadn’t warmed Rosalie, as her face quickly fell, and a scowl formed. “Yeah. Maybe.” She stated dryly, climbing off Emmett and tossing the magazine onto the little round table. Rosalie shot Emmett a look that had my blood running cold, I was surprised Emmett had survived the daggers thrown his way. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she stalked out of the room.

“Aw, Babe. Come on.” Emmett called from where he sat, leaning forwards in his chair.

“I’m really sorry-“ I began, but quickly got cut off by a teacup being held in front of my vision. Reaching out, I carefully took it and gave Edward a thankful smile.

“Don’t bother apologising, Violet. You’ve done nothing wrong. Rose is just… finding certain things difficult at the moment. It’s making her even more irritating, I mean irritable, than usual.” Edward commented with a shrug, joining Bella on the floor. Emmett shot Edward a glare, causing the other teenager to smirk. For adopted siblings, they all quite naturally picked on each other.

“She likes you.” Emmett attempted to reassure me. “Don’t take it personally, but she finds it hard to be around you.” He tried to explain, but I didn’t really understand. She couldn’t bare being in the same room as me, but liked my company? I sensed that there was more to this than I was being told, and I was missing the point completely. Perhaps my feelings were just being protected. I knew it was impossible to have everyone like you, but I was going to put more effort in with Rosalie. I enjoyed hanging out with this family, and I was fairly certain I could call them my friends. The last thing I wanted want to come along and make any of them uncomfortable in my presence. That would be selfish.

“Right. So, it’s not just my piano playing putting her off them?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood slightly. I cradled the teacup in my hands carefully, pleasantly surprised by the warmth that seeped into my sink. The teacup itself was beautiful, it was clearly very old but treasured and well looked after. It was decorated with elegant white figures, draped in robes, surrounded by equally delicate white trees. They contrast nicely against the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen. Sipping the tea, I was shocked by how nice it was. Black, two sugars, and surprising boiling hot. “Did you guys invest in an actual kettle?” I asked, going back to staring at the teacup and trying to work out why it looked familiar. Very carefully, so not to scald myself, I lifted the teacup up high enough to look at the bottom of it. My breath caught in my chest; this teacup was entirely too precious to be in my clumsy hands. Very slowly, I leant forwards and placed it on the table in front of me – successfully not knocking it over in the process.

Edward nodded, one hand on Bella’s back and the other reaching around her to move one of Jasper’s pawns. Was it really going to take all three of them to beat Alice? “I believe last time we microwaved one of your teabags you called it ‘an abomination and a crime against English culture, punishable by a sentencing to The Tower of London’.” Edward laughed, reminding me of the awful tea I had forced down last time I was in their company. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so passionate about something. If you’re going to keep coming over here and bothering us,” I could tell by his tone he was teasing me, so in response I childishly stuck my tongue out at him, “then the last we could do was invest in a cheap kettle.”.

I grinned at Edward, warmth filling my chest to know that they had gotten a kettle especially for me. It cemented the acceptance I felt from them and reinforced just how much I valued their friendship. “Well, England thanks you. I’ll let the Queen know to cancel your trip to The Tower.” I told him in mock seriousness. “Do you guys have the whole set, or just the one cup?” I asked, gesturing back to the teacup.

“Oh, do you like it? It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Esme’s voice startled me, as she and Carlisle entered the room – moving to sit together on the other sofa. They both sat with their bodies angled towards me, Esme with one leg crossed over the other and Carlisle relaxed back – one hand on the sofa arm and the other one Esme’s knee.

“Ah, um. Yes, very pretty. Wedgewood, right?” I asked, hesitating before I spoke. There was almost a weird energy in the air. Even though Rosalie was missing, it felt like there was suddenly a connection between all of them. I was semi-convinced I could feel a buzz under my skin, the closeness they all shared. If I squinted, I swore I could almost see blurry energy between them. I couldn’t tell if it was just a weird side effect of my headache making me imagine things, or that I just wasn’t used to families having close and supportive bonds. It distracted me slightly, putting me just a bit on edge. I was being ridiculous; I probably just needed a good night’s sleep.

“It is. You have a good eye, Violet.” Esme praised, making my stomach flutter. Was this what it felt like to receive a positive comment from a motherly individual? It was nice.

“I can’t take all the credit. The colour gives it away.” I shrugged, still admiring the cup from afar. “Also, you know… I peaked at the bottom.” I admitted. I didn’t want to break anything that could be valuable. “Have you owned it long, Esme?” I asked, trying my best to keep the conversation flowing.

“It was a gift from Carlisle for my birthday several years ago. It was from a collection of his.” She smiled, her eyes focused on her husband as she squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek lovingly. The sweet intimacy made me want to blush.

“I found it in a box, in the street, when I travelled through Europe… a while ago. I didn’t know what it was. I just thought it looked nice. It’s an 1840 Jasperware set. Quite rare now.” Carlisle said, talking as thought it was some cheap item he had picked up from Target. I had begun to reach for my tea again, but I quickly withdrew my hand. I’d take the headache over breaking something that old. It was bloody ancient. Carlisle laughed at my hesitant behaviour, gesturing to my teacup. “Please don’t worry, Violet. Esme has been looking forward to getting this tea set out since we bought the kettle.” Carlisle reassured me.

Esme smiled at me as I carefully picked up the teacup again, now I swore I could feel its delicate age under my fingertips. I took a very tentative sip, knowing that I’d never been so gentle with anything in my whole life. “How is the piano playing coming along, Violet?” Esme asked me, her voice soft and motherly – she appeared genuinely interested.

“Did she not ruin your eardrums as well?” Emmett asked, stretching out across the loveseat and smirking at me before I had the chance to answer myself.

Esme frowned a little bit at him. “I’m sure you are exaggerating, Emmett. Everyone has to start somewhere.” She scolded him, earning me a couple of side glances from the rest of the teenagers in the room.

“Ah… no. He’s justified, Esme. I’m really bad.” I admitted, chewing my bottom lip slightly. It was a nervous habit, and the reason I had Chapstick in every jacket pocket and bag I owned.

“You’ll get better with practise, Violet.” Alice told me, picking up her knight and moving it across the board. Jasper sighed in response, knocking over his king in defeat.

I wish they knew just how well I wanted to do; how hard I was trying to learn…. How badly I wanted to fit in and be their friend.

“You’re doing very well, Violet. Honestly. I’m impressed, you read music like you’ve been doing it for years.” Edward complimented me, making me wonder if I had accidently spoken out loud.

“Um… That’s because I have been reading music for years. Just not music for the piano.” I admitted, taking another sip of tea and shifting a little uncomfortably. I had been hoping that my awful playing would cover up the fact I actually knew a little more than I was letting on. Clearly that wasn’t the case, and now I had all of them looking at me with curiosity.

“What can you play?” Jasper asked, setting up their chessboard for another game – although it was clear that it was going to be neglected. He tilted his head at me, staring at me like he a trying to work me out. If I wasn’t already feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Jasper’s intense gaze would have been giving anxiety.

“Violin… I used to play violin.” I murmured, staring into my teacup and tracing my finger around the rim in a form of distraction.

“Were you any good at that?” Emmett asked cheekily.

“Very good, actually.”

“Then why bother with the piano?” Emmett followed up.

I shrugged in response, trying to be evasive with my answer. There were somethings I didn’t want to talk about, that I really didn’t want to remember. “Always good to learn something new. Life’s short.” I told him. “Wouldn’t hurt if you wanted to learn the piano too.”

Emmett scoffed at me, as I expected he would. “Hell no. I’ll leave that to the nerds.” I wasn’t surprised by his response. He had always struck me as an outdoorsy individual, I wouldn’t have been shocked if Emmett was the type of enjoy climbing and kayaking.

“Would you play for us sometime?” Alice asked me, her eyes look at me… but not really looking at me. They moved slightly, as though she was searching for something that wasn’t there.

A sense of panic overwhelmed me, it was blinding and for a moment I wasn’t sat on the comfortable sofa in the Cullen’s home. I was back in England, sat in a horribly familiar room on an uncomfortable stool I knew all too well. I had a violin in my arms, I was poised and ready to play. I couldn’t see properly; my vision was blurred by my own tears – I could only make out the figure of man sitting on one of twelve plush red chairs in front of me. “No.” I murmured, “No, no. No. I can’t… I…”

“Violet?” Jasper’s southern voice snapped me back into myself, he was sudden sat next to me with his hand on my arm – which was raised from my lap, my fingers twitching slightly as thought I was pressing on strings. I blinked a few times, looking around at the pale faces staring at me. My damp cheeks heated with embarrassment.

“Oh god, sorry.” I tried to laugh out, but it came out more of a choke. I lowered my arm down, wiping my eyes quickly as I did so. “It’s been a long day.” I tried to excuse myself, but I knew it wasn’t very convincing. I took in a little shaky breath and looked at Jasper, who seemed almost disturbed as I felt. “Sorry… It’s the headache.” I tried another excuse, hoping this one would stick a little better. “I’m sorry. I don’t play anymore; I don’t even own a violin. Sold it to pay for my plane ticket.” I explained, as it wasn’t a complete lie – but it was the easiest thing to say out loud.

“You’ve been having headaches?” Carlisle asked me, looking at me the same way he looked at patients in the ER.

“I’m fine, honestly. I promise. You’re off the clock anyway, Doc. I’ll take some pain killers when I get back to my room.” I told him, my eyes catching the clock on the wall. “Shit, I really should leave you guys alone. It’s getting late. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise the time.” I panicked, knowing that I had embarrassed myself and was more than likely outstaying my welcome. While I liked being with the Cullens, and often tried to hang out with them for as long as possible, I now just wanted to escape home. “Don’t you children have a bedtime or something?” I asked, finishing my tea and placing the cup on the table before standing up from the sofa.

Emmett rolled his eyes at me. “We’re not actually that young. Plus, on weekend, Daddy Carlisle lets us go to bed an hour later than normal!” He said with teasing tone, making the others laugh.

“Well then I’m old, and I have to go to bed.” I told him, shoving my hand into my pocket and pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. “Here, Edward. For the lesson.” He raised he hands and started to try to refuse me. “Oi, shut up. You’re a teenager, you earnt it. Spend it on, I don’t know… candy or college, right?” I told him, actually having no idea what you spent money on anymore if it wasn’t bills. I folded the bill in half and managed to flick it with enough force that it crossed over to Edward, landing neatly in front of him. “Right. Well, thank you very much for having me.” I said politely to Carlisle and Esme, picking up the sheet music.

“Violet.” Alice’s voice rang out, grabbing my attention instantly. “If you’re not busy, do you want to come over tomorrow?” She seemed nervous as she asked, as though she wasn’t certain how I was going to answer. Maybe I hadn’t made it clear how much I like their company. “We’ve got this biology project… Maybe you could help us? And then we could do something fun?” She suggested, looking over at Edward and Bella – both nodding in agreement.

“Oh, yeah. Sure. I’d really like that. I’m not certain I’d be much better help than Carlisle though.” I told her honestly, wondering why they wanted my help when their dad was a doctor. But I’d take it, any excuse to hang out with them. “Oh, do you need a ride home Bella?” I asked, holding up my car keys.

“No, thanks though. Charlie knows I’m staying here tonight.” I nodded at her response, twirling my keys around my fingers.

“Let me show you out, Violet.” Emmett said, jumping up from his chair and striding over to me. “Got to see if you’re going to fall down the stairs. Wouldn’t miss that comedy.”

“How about I push you down them?” I asked, rubbing my temple a little and laughing. I was pleased my evening had ended on a more cheerful note. “Well. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Just, er… text me, whenever you want me, cool?” I suggested, giving a little wave before letting Emmett lead me out.


End file.
